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Dan28 wrote
random-username wrote
Check Paxful for lowest offers on giftcards ==> Buy said giftcards with lebanese credit card ==> Exchange giftcards for bitcoin ==> Transfer bitcoin to shakepay app (free open source app for canadians to manage their bitcoin wallets) ==>Sell bitcoin immediately and have it auto-deposited into my checking account on the spot.

Ideally you should have a bank abroad, or you just end stuck holding bitcoin. Best of luck everyone!
how much percentage you loose in the process? 20-30%?
8.92% on the gift card and less than 0.2% on fees for transferring the bitcoins between accounts and finally to my checking account.
It all depends on the gift card, some charge a 40% markup, while others are low. Check out the paxful.com listings, they change everyday.
Also, I could speculate and hold those bitcoins in my wallet till they appreciate enough to cover the roughly 9% loss in value, but I don't know much about bitcoin to do that and I've very risk averse after the whole experience in lebanon.

Hopefully this helps you guys to get some of your money out for a reasonable rate. Maybe you have some relatives abroad that can liquidate the bitcoins for you.
@random-username. I tried to access paxful site but was blocked. So I tried with VPN and it work. Can we buy Bitcoin directly with credit card? Or Lebanese ones don't work?
They don't work, you have to do it through skrill or gift cards, and either way, once you complete a transaction, withdraw the btc, you might wake up one day and find out that you're blocked due to VPN.

Also note, most paxful can detect if you are using a vpn, and some merchants don't allow transactions with VPN/tor
random-username wrote Buy said giftcards with lebanese credit card
isn't there a limitation on online purchases?
random-username wrote
random-username wroteGonna repost this question here since this thread is more relevant than the bitcoin one. Also, this would help anyone else in a similar situation

So i have some money stuck in an account in Lebanon and I want to get as much out as I can, in addition to the bi-weekly cash withdraws that I have entrusted a family member to do.
I have a USD credit card and the limits are as follows: Max 200$ a day and 500$ a month.
I was hoping to buy gold with it, but due to the small limit I'd be taking a major hit on a gram-to-gram basis if I'm only buying 2-3 grams, in comparison to a full ounce.
I need a method to "save" my credit card $ into some sort of account or crypto which I can use later on to buy an ounce of gold.
I'm in Canada, so local dealers are not an option for me, everything has to be done online.
I've tried buying crypto on coinbase with my Lebanese CC, but that didn't work.
Anyone has any suggestions? (I'm also open to paypal or anything else that would help me turn my CC balance to real $ in my canadian bank account)
Big update, but this only works if you have a bank account abroad (i have one in Canada).
I managed to transform my lollar $ on my lebanese credit card to real $ in my canadian checking account using bitcoin. What I did was as follows:

Check Paxful for lowest offers on giftcards ==> Buy said giftcards with lebanese credit card ==> Exchange giftcards for bitcoin ==> Transfer bitcoin to shakepay app (free open source app for canadians to manage their bitcoin wallets) ==>Sell bitcoin immediately and have it auto-deposited into my checking account on the spot.

Ideally you should have a bank abroad, or you just end stuck holding bitcoin. Best of luck everyone!
But isn't there a limit to how much you can buy with your Lebanese credit card ?
There is a limit yes, my bank's limit is 200$ per day and 500$ per month.
That's 500 more dollars that I can withdraw without waiting in line for ages at the bank.
I forgot to mention, I had no VPN on since I'm in Canada and bitcoin is allowed here. Also, the entire paxful verification process is a pain in the ass. Government issued ID + utility bill + selfie with a camera. Some sellers require verification, others don't.
Your mileage may vary
random-username wrotethe entire paxful verification process is a pain in the ass. Government issued ID + utility bill + selfie with a camera.
another method is to signup on https://purse.io/earn/btc

its a site where users put stuff from amazon in a wish list, you go buy it for them with your lebanese card and get paid in bitcoin.
the site uses escrow system and its pretty easy to use.
i think you can use lbp, amazon added that option recently, it asks you to choose which currency to pay with "lbp or usd".
if you can pay with lbp on amazon "exhange rate 1515" you dont lose money and even make a profit.

EDIT: it seems that amazon removed this option :(
@random-username btw an easier method is to buy the 100$ prepaid mastercards on amazon and load them to your paypal account.
Amazon did not remove the currency conversion.
It always gives me the option to pay in USD or LBP.
And it is charging 1579LBP for 1USD.

I would give this a go, but I do not need anything at the moment nor can I afford it.

Maybe someone else can give it a go and share the result.

Since they're not putting controls on online purchasing with LBP, this was we can buy anything we want on Amazon for 1579 LBP for the dollar.
Dan28 wrote
random-username wrotethe entire paxful verification process is a pain in the ass. Government issued ID + utility bill + selfie with a camera.
another method is to signup on https://purse.io/earn/btc

its a site where users put stuff from amazon in a wish list, you go buy it for them with your lebanese card and get paid in bitcoin.
the site uses escrow system and its pretty easy to use.
i think you can use lbp, amazon added that option recently, it asks you to choose which currency to pay with "lbp or usd".
if you can pay with lbp on amazon "exhange rate 1515" you dont lose money and even make a profit.

EDIT: it seems that amazon removed this option :(
Amazing, thank you so much for this link. I'm new to crypto and already in love with it. Gives you so much freedom.
AVOlio wroteIt always gives me the option to pay in USD or LBP.
yes same here, but it didnt work this time, maybe its something in my cart, ill check again later.
NuclearVision wroteAnd what do you guys do with your bitcoins?
You can sell them at the black market price for 5%.
Johnaudi wrote
NuclearVision wroteAnd what do you guys do with your bitcoins?
You can sell them at the black market price for 5%.
is it legal though?
Dan28 wrote
random-username wrotethe entire paxful verification process is a pain in the ass. Government issued ID + utility bill + selfie with a camera.
another method is to signup on https://purse.io/earn/btc

its a site where users put stuff from amazon in a wish list, you go buy it for them with your lebanese card and get paid in bitcoin.
the site uses escrow system and its pretty easy to use.
i think you can use lbp, amazon added that option recently, it asks you to choose which currency to pay with "lbp or usd".
if you can pay with lbp on amazon "exhange rate 1515" you dont lose money and even make a profit.

EDIT: it seems that amazon removed this option :(
Just a quick follow up, i followed this method and got the option to pay in LBP, one issue though, purse.io charges 37%, the offers were at 5% rate when before i signed up, 37% after i sign up.
NuclearVision wrote
Dan28 wrote
random-username wrotethe entire paxful verification process is a pain in the ass. Government issued ID + utility bill + selfie with a camera.
another method is to signup on https://purse.io/earn/btc

its a site where users put stuff from amazon in a wish list, you go buy it for them with your lebanese card and get paid in bitcoin.
the site uses escrow system and its pretty easy to use.
i think you can use lbp, amazon added that option recently, it asks you to choose which currency to pay with "lbp or usd".
if you can pay with lbp on amazon "exhange rate 1515" you dont lose money and even make a profit.

EDIT: it seems that amazon removed this option :(
Just a quick follow up, i followed this method and got the option to pay in LBP, one issue though, purse.io charges 37%, the offers were at 5% rate when before i signed up, 37% after i sign up.
Yeah I didn't use purse because of that. You need a bunch of transactions at extremely high rates before getting down to the 5% ones.
I went the giftcard route on Paxful and am currently doing so for several ex-colleagues in lebanon.
If you know what you're doing and are willing to speculate you can make back the roughly 10% loss in value from doing the giftcard option, since crypto is so volatile it swings 5-10% almost each day.
I'm depositing the funds straight into my Canadian checking account on the tune of 600 USD a day.
random-username wrote
NuclearVision wrote
Dan28 wrote
another method is to signup on https://purse.io/earn/btc

its a site where users put stuff from amazon in a wish list, you go buy it for them with your lebanese card and get paid in bitcoin.
the site uses escrow system and its pretty easy to use.
i think you can use lbp, amazon added that option recently, it asks you to choose which currency to pay with "lbp or usd".
if you can pay with lbp on amazon "exhange rate 1515" you dont lose money and even make a profit.

EDIT: it seems that amazon removed this option :(
Just a quick follow up, i followed this method and got the option to pay in LBP, one issue though, purse.io charges 37%, the offers were at 5% rate when before i signed up, 37% after i sign up.
Yeah I didn't use purse because of that. You need a bunch of transactions at extremely high rates before getting down to the 5% ones.
I went the giftcard route on Paxful and am currently doing so for several ex-colleagues in lebanon.
If you know what you're doing and are willing to speculate you can make back the roughly 10% loss in value from doing the giftcard option, since crypto is so volatile it swings 5-10% almost each day.
I'm depositing the funds straight into my Canadian checking account on the tune of 600 USD a day.
Did you try to sell on Amazon? then buy it with LBP, get your self the dollars? I am not familiar with selling on amazon, so no idea about feasability
NuclearVision wrote
random-username wrote
NuclearVision wrote Just a quick follow up, i followed this method and got the option to pay in LBP, one issue though, purse.io charges 37%, the offers were at 5% rate when before i signed up, 37% after i sign up.
Yeah I didn't use purse because of that. You need a bunch of transactions at extremely high rates before getting down to the 5% ones.
I went the giftcard route on Paxful and am currently doing so for several ex-colleagues in lebanon.
If you know what you're doing and are willing to speculate you can make back the roughly 10% loss in value from doing the giftcard option, since crypto is so volatile it swings 5-10% almost each day.
I'm depositing the funds straight into my Canadian checking account on the tune of 600 USD a day.
Did you try to sell on Amazon? then buy it with LBP, get your self the dollars? I am not familiar with selling on amazon, so no idea about feasability
I don't have an LBP card. Pretty sure amazon takes like a 15% cut as well, and I'm sure takes a cut too.
So I'm better off just doing the giftcard option.
What gift cards are you buying? All I can find are 30% or more....